Pau Gasol Back With Barcelona, With An Eye Toward The Summer Olympics
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Pau Gasol is going back to Barcelona.
Gasol, 40, has been out of the NBA since March of 2019 due to a foot injury. But he's ready to come back to the court, and will do so in Spain to play for Barcelona through the end of June.
???????? I couldn't end such a special day without telling you this…
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) February 23, 2021
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀#ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/YzSKkrSC6Q
"I'm back home," Gasol said in a video he posted on Twitter. "I'm beginning this new chapter at Barça with the excitement of returning to the team where I grew up as a player."
Barcelona was home court for Gasol between 1998 and 2001, before he came to the NBA.
He had recently expressed interest in returning to the Los Angeles Lakers – where he played alongside Kobe Bryant in the team's 2009 and 2010 championship runs – to play with his brother, Marc Gasol. Ultimately, Gasol had hoped to land with a team to boost his chances of playing in his fifth Olympic games this summer.